Pure Financial Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Pure Financial Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,071 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,239 shares during the quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the first quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,385,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.7% during the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 105.4% during the first quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 3,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.1% in the first quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 34,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,543,000 after buying an additional 3,976 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $101.88 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.60 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $258.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $112.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.84.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.